Enchanting Grace

Chapter 7

It was the fourth day of the tournament, the end was drawing near. Ayame walked onto the arena floor remembering the events that had occured yesterday.

The team raced to the infirmary to see their injured friend. Izumi was banged up pretty bad, she had gauze around her abdomen and her arm.

"Yo Izumi, are you okay?" Toda asked.

"Yeah, but that bastard, she's good." Izumi answered "Ayame if you somehow beat Nakoa she will be a difficult opponent to face."

"I'll be fine, I always have." Ayame said sounding laid back "Your the one we should be worrying about."

"She'll be okay, she's always been a tough one." Sakai explained.

"Ayame,"

Yeah, what is it?"

"Beat Nakoa and kick Mashimo's ass."

"Will do."

She kept walking until she climbed the stairs and reached the sanded floor of the ring. There on the other side stood Nakoa, her final obstacle if she wanted to face Mashimo.

"So Ayame, are you ready to face me?" Nakoa asked.

"Oh yeah, and I've been waiting to fight you. I'm gonna enjoy this."

"Today's match is anything goes. Any type of combat style is acceptable." Shino explained "Now begin!"

"So, how do you want to do this fight?" Nakoa asked.

"Well he said any way we want so," Ayame said going to punch Nakoa, but missed as he dodged at the last second "Anything works for me."

"You're a fast one, but..." Nakoa rushed Ayame at blinding speeds with a ferocious kick. She put her arms up to block it, but was sent flying back. Ayame didn't even have a chance to react when Nakoa punched her in the stomach. With her feet still on the ground a cloud of dust formed as she reached the edge of the arena.

"Woah there." Ayame said trying to keep her balance and not fall out "Now you've peaked my interest."

Ayame jumped up, about twenty feet, and then came plummeting down creating a crater in the arena's ground. Nakoa jumped to avoid the shockwave realizing the power his opponent had. He knew he should keep away from any physical attacks and focus on long range. He pulled out some kunai knives and threw five of them at his intended target. Ayame dodged them, but was suddenly unable to move. She looked down and saw that the earth around her had trapped her legs in some sort of earth wall. Nakoa had cast a spell and was running toward her at lightning fast speeds.

Now that she's immobilized, I can take her out without getting the wind knocked out of me Nakoa thought.

He wasn't very far away when he saw it. That same smile on her face that he had seen before. No, this one was different. This one was a mix of sinister and innocent, a deadly beast that could tear one's soul in half. Although, it was just a harmless smile, and he couldn't afford to worry about such trivial things. Nakoa got his head back in the game and focused on the obstacle in front of-. She was gone. But how? And when? Right now that wasn't important, he had to find her. He looked around the entire arena, but she wasn't in sight.

"Um... where'd Ayame go?" Sakai asked.

"That's a good question, uh... I have no idea." Toda replied.

"If you River Mountain dolts had a brain you would have seen it." Tsukiko said out of nowhere.

"Why are you here?"

"What else would I be here for? Your stands have the best viewing point to watch my sweet dearest Ayame."

"Never mind that what were you saying Tsukiko?" Sakai interrupted.

"Oh yes, it's a rather simple trick that can fool even the most skilled warriors. The invisibility spell."

"But, isn't that a high level spell? I heard that it can take years to learn." Toda said shocked at Tsukiko's answer.

"Yes, and if Nakoa doesn't find her soon he may lose this battle."

Back on the floor of the arena, Nakoa was still searching for Ayame, but wasn't having any luck.

Focus Nakoa, she's just invisible. I know, paint! That should hit her.

Nakoa made a spell that covered the whole arena in red paint. Once all the paint had landed, he saw that Ayame still was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, he felt something grab his leg. A hand, coming from the ground. He tried to break free of the grip, but it kept getting tighter. Another hand came out and grabbed his other ankle. Then, a head popped out. It belonged to the missing Ayame.

"Hey there, so... why is there paint everywhere?" Ayame asked confused with dirt flowing through her brown hair.

"How'd you get down there?" Nakoa asked.

"I just dug a tunnel. Did you think I was invisible?"

"Uh..."

"I guess so, well then I enjoyed this fight. Too bad this has to end."

Ayame jumped out of the ground, with Nakoa still locked in her grip. She started spinning around, and around and around, then flung Nakoa through the air. He crash landed next to the River Mountain team, a bit out of it due to all the spinning.

"And that's it, that concludes the end of the semifinals." Shino exclaimed "There is a break tomorrow so rest up. The final match between Ayame from River Mountain and Mashimo from Thunder Valley will begin the day after tomorrow."

Ayame joined her team and they all celebrated her victory, while Tsukiko helped Nakoa get back on his feet.

"Tsk," Mashimo said absolutely outraged by her teams failure "If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."